NIGERIA POLICE HAS CONSTITUTED ITSELF INTO A MAJOR ARM OF THE RULING PARTY: GROUP CRIES OUT



The Save the Ijaw Nation Group otherwise known as the SING Foundation, a frontline pro-democracy civil society organization has decried the role played by the Nigeria Police Force with regard to the latter’s interference in a series of intra and inter party squabbles in Rivers State, the arbitrary deployment and redeployment of Commissioners of Police in Bayelsa State and the recent  siege on the Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly where policemen aided 5 members of the State’s House of Assembly to illegally invade the house while preventing the legitimate majority of 21 members from gaining access to the complex.

Led by its Executive Director Mr. Usman Idris- Etanami and other directors of the foundation, the group on Friday, paid visits to embassies of both the European Union and the United States where they engaged in  peaceful demonstrations  and the submission of letters asking the leadership of both the EU and USA to prevail on Nigeria’s Federal Government to take steps aimed at arresting the continued attempt by men and officers of the Nigeria Police Force to conspire with certain politicians within the Nigeri Delta Region to violate the constitutional rights of the people in a manner that would pose grave danger to democracy  and ultimately the political stability of the country.

Mr. Femi Lawson, a Director of the Foundation while addressing the press, stated that Nigerians, especially the people of the Niger Delta are worried about what he called the “recent partisan disposition of the Police Force” to issues of politics and the rights of Nigerians to freely express their reservations about the government without being harassed, molested and unjustly detained. 

According to Mr. Lawson, “We are worried and have found it necessary to reach out to members of the international committee whom we deem as friends of Nigeria to help us question the Federal Government on the actual motive of watching the Nigerian Police behave as if it is a major arm of the ruling party”.

Speaking further on the matter, Mr. Usman Idris Etanami said “It is becoming the norm for the Nigeria Police to ignore basic standards of policing in carrying out its activities in most parts of the Niger Delta and other places where the ruling party is perceived to be losing out. With the 2019 Elections close at hand, there is an urgent need to call the force to order. The Inspector General of Police Mr. Ibrahim Idris should therefore be properly advised and cautioned as this unwarranted development is testing the patience of the people. We are not out to join issues with the Police Force but there must be equity in all that they do. The police deserve to enjoy the support of Nigerians at all times and I believe Nigerians are willing to do just that if and only if they (the police force) desist from violating the constitutionally guaranteed rights of the people which is sacrosanct in a democratic setting”.

Usman Idris-Etanami , Executive Director, SING Foundation addresses journalists outside the European Union Embassy
 Comrade Jacob Okpanachi  a member of the group while fielding questions from newsmen stressed on need for the international community to keep a sharp eye on happenings in Nigeria as events unfold in the build up to the elections. According to Opkanachi, “ The need to promote a peaceful atmosphere as we approach 2019 is nonnegotiable. The recent happenings in the Niger Delta speaks volumes about the mindset of the leadership of the Nigeria Police. Unless conscious effort is made to checkmate their excesses, the situation may degenerate and put our democracy at risk. We deserve to feel secure in the presence of our police who they say are our friends but instead, when our people see police, they feel threatened. That is not the way things are supposed to be. We speak today not just for the Niger Delta alone but also on behalf of all Nigerians and especially lovers of freedom and democracy. We therefore appeal to both the EU and United States Government to do the needful”.
Comrade Jacob Okpanachi fields questions from the press


Usman Idris- Etanami (r) accompanied by Mr. Femi Lawson (l) as they emerge from the EU Embassy after submission of their letters soliciting for intervention of the EU leadership.

Leaders of the group were led by officials of the embassies to relevant offices where they submitted their letters with a firm promise from  officials that the issues would be duly looked into.


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